Saturday, 12 October 2013

Where to Focus on Missions Between Now and 2050

The population of developed regions is projected to remain largely unchanged at around 1.3 billion from now until 2050.

But developed countries are influential. Therefore our mission should continue to have a focus on developed countries.

In contrast, the 49 least developed countries are projected to double in size from around 900 million people in 2013 to 1.8 billion in 2050.

Therefore our mission should focus on doubling its efforts in developing countries.

There has been a rapid fall in the average number of children per woman in large developing countries such as China, India, Indonesia, Iran, Brazil and South Africa. Meanwhile rapid growth is expected to continue over the next few decades in countries with high levels of fertility such as Nigeria, Niger, the Democratic Republic of the Congo, Ethiopia and Uganda but also Afghanistan and Timor-Leste.

India is expected to become the world’s largest country, passing China around 2028, when both countries will have populations of 1.45 billion. After that, India’s population will continue to grow and China’s is expected to start decreasing. Meanwhile, Nigeria’s population is expected to surpass that of the United States before 2050.

There should be a strong focus on African countries, India and still China.

Europe’s population is projected to decline by 14 per cent.

We should pray for great population growth in Australia and the United States; and pray for revival in the United Kingdom and Canada.